Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant in western Penna. was closed in November 2019

From an Article by Chrissy Suttles, Elwood City Ledger, July 21, 2020

Reimagine Appalachia on July 21st released a New Deal-style policy framework to expand economic opportunity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the region.

A collective of environmental and economic policy groups in the region want federal lawmakers to include Appalachia in the national recovery conversation.

Large, absentee corporations have drained wealth from Appalachia for decades, the groups argue, leading to abandoned reclamation, pollution and poverty — especially in already marginalized communities. As Congress further addresses economic fallout linked to COVID-19, the partnership wants a seat at the table.

Reimagine Appalachia, a coalition of organizations from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, released the New Deal-style policy framework to expand economic opportunity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Ohio River Valley.

The strategy was drafted by Policy Matters Ohio, a research institute, and its sister organizations in neighboring states, including the Keystone Research Center in Pennsylvania.

Their solution involves reviving federal recovery programs launched during the Great Depression and expanding transportation, clean manufacturing and broadband in rural areas.

By reviving the Civilian Conservation Corps, Americans could rebuild wetlands and reforest their land, authors said. Appalachia is rich in carbon-absorbing natural resources, and investment in “carbon farming” would help mitigate the effects of climate change.

“It’s important to understand we don’t have to eliminate every single carbon emission to achieve net-zero carbon. Trees absorb carbon,” said Amanda Woodrum, a senior researcher at Policy Matters Ohio. She said it’s likely national climate change legislation will come in the form of an economic stimulus package if trends continue.

Shuttered coal plants can be converted into eco-industrial parks that use circular manufacturing methods to turn a company’s waste into another’s raw material, too. Boilers and turbines can be re-purposed for combined heat and power to better meet the needs of manufacturers, and all orphaned oil and gas wells would be capped.

“Climate change is already causing damage in the Ohio River Valley,” authors wrote. “Severe storms have damaged our infrastructure and flooded our homes, communities and farms and made people sick.”

Publicly funded projects outlined in the strategy include upgrading the Rural Grid Modernization Program to give all Americans access to broadband internet. Similar to past initiatives, it could create tens of thousands of construction, maintenance and utility jobs.

Building an Appalachian rail corridor connecting rural areas to urban cores would provide a less-expensive form of transportation, according to the plan.

This would reduce the amount of money Appalachians spend on petroleum products imported from outside the region, the plan notes. Federal policymakers can further improve Appalachia’s transportation network by expanding public options and offer electric vehicle subsidies.

“The economy really does come down to people working, buying and selling stuff,” said Hannah Halbert, Policy Matters Ohio executive director. “People are the economy, and what’s good for people is good for the economy.”

Public construction projects would involve labor agreements, prevailing wages and apprentice-utilization requirements to ensure quality work under the blueprint, with a large share of apprentices coming from low-income, underrepresented communities.

Company leadership would have to honor workers’ freedom to unionize and ensure genuine opportunities for fossil fuel workers. Skilled laborers would not be asked to involuntarily relocate or retrain. “In fact, we need coal miners, plant workers and oil and gas to help us,” Woodrum said.

The coalition also demands public officials support those who contracted black lung disease and other chronic health problems while working in extraction industries. “These workers must be able to retire with dignity, with the health care they need as well as the retirement pensions they deserve,” authors said.

Average income in Appalachia has largely stagnated or declined in the past 40 years, according to Keystone Research Center executive director Stephen Herzenberg. In the four decades prior — from the late 1930s to the late 1970s — regional income tripled or quadrupled.

“The people of Appalachia have a great work ethic,” he said. “They expect to be paid fairly and to be protected and respected on the job. But for the past 40 years, almost none of the benefits of economic growth have been shared with working people in our region. Corporations and the politicians they control have held wages down.”

A copy of the full blueprint can be found at: reimagineappalachia.org.